Tales Woven

During a visit to in-laws in the late ‘80s, we took a trip to the city to see the “twin towers.” As we were about to enter and take an elevator to the sky, the Goodyear Blimp was overhead. This picture now has a strange foreshadowing.

There I am. In the sky, atop one of the “twin towers.” Hubby doesn’t like heights; I had to convince him to come out to the observation deck.

A panoramic view of the city, taken from the World Trade Center

A once familiar skyscape taken from a very small boat in very chopped waters, 1995.

I remember my first horrifying glimpse, on tv, of the smudgy New York skyline with a huge gap in it. As I grasped the significance, my knees went weak.

Today we remember and we honour those who gave their lives on 9/11 and the first responders (and others) who later lost their lives as a result of their work in the rumble.

That is why today is also a National Day of Service. A chance for something good to come from something so devastating and evil.

These pictures are frozen moments in pre-9/11 time . Almost 20 years after I rode the elevator to the sky, I came back to work in the city. I went to the site. Renewal with remembrance, honour and respect.

5 thoughts on “Frozen Moments: 9/11, 2014”

14 years since 9/11. Today, terrorism and terrorists kill the innocent; use a skewed version of religion to justify horrors done. Those fleeing Africa, Asia, and the Middle East are not all migrants, or economic refugees. So many are escaping lives ripped apart by acts of terror.
So, as we remember the horror of 9/11, death of the innocent in New York, Washington, and Shanksville, and the continuing deaths of first responders and others exposed to the toxins, let’s also think of the innocents around the world who’s very being is under a constant death sentence from terrorism. Just as we must remain vigilant — not all terrorists came from away.

On that morning I was running late for work, after dropping my boys off at school, I almost collided with a co-workers squad car in the parking lot. The Guy jumped out of his car and yelled something about the Twin Towers, and I had to think…..Twin Towers where are they? Oh yeah New York. I ran inside to find a group of police officers standing around the crappy TV in the coffee room watching the news. I made it inside just in time to see the second plane hit. I had no idea what was happening, but was quickly brought up to speed by the news coverage. This was a small police department I worked in….population of the town was about 20,000. The phones generally rang all day with complaints about loose dogs, loud music, speeding cars, loud neighbors and other nonsense. The phone did not ring that day with bullshit complaints. The phones were mute. The police radio, usually buzzing with activity was so quiet it was scary. The police officers walked in and out of the station with looks of disbelief on their faces. For quite awhile we were extremely nervous because rumors were flying that Chicago was a possible target. (We are only fifteen miles south of downtown Chicago). The following weeks were crazy for the area police departments. The town next to us has a very large Muslim population, and a Mosque. Peaceful people, their children went to school with my children, but they needed round the clock protection from the idiots that wanted to cause trouble. It was a horrible time.

I was in Canada, at the time, teaching as the planes were hitting the buildings, and the towers went down. So, my first image was a broken skyline.
In Canada, the concern was that Ottawa could come under attack. Next time I saw the class, we talked about terrorism — now and in the past.
That’s one of the horrible things — like you said, Muslims needing protection. Muslims every where feared for their lives.
Thanks for sharing your experience on 9/11! The world really did change that day.

Nothing will ever be the same again — I agree. When I heard students going on about airplanes, and buildings collapsing, I at first dismissed it as some new game or a Hollywood hot flix. But as I said in my post, my knees caved in when I read the info on the bottom of the tv screen, and the commentary of the news people.
I was living in Canada then, and the national tv/radio broadcaster, CBC, stayed on 24/7. A haunting remembrance of CNN’s coverage of the first Gulf War.

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